Every year San Francisco Performances (SFP) offers a free concert by way of a gift to its subscribers and donors. This year the event will be a solo recital by pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, who will be making his Bay Area debut. Also, because the event will be held at the new SFJAZZ Center, this will be the first time that the facility will be used for a classical music program.
Readers of my national site are probably already aware of Grosvenor’s talents. He released his first concerto album on Decca in February. The album featured concertos by Camille Saint-Saëns, Maurice Ravel, and George Gershwin, coupling each concerto with an “encore” in the form of a solo piece by its respective composer. Grosvenor also celebrated the release of this recording (which I thoroughly enjoyed) with a brief United States tour that never got any closer to San Francisco than San Diego.
The prevailing theme of his SFP concert will be transcription. He will perform transcriptions of compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach by Wilhelm Kempff, Franz Rummel, Alexander Siloti, and Saint-Saëns. He will then conclude his recital with Adolf Schulz-Evler’s transcription of “The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II. He will also perform five selections by Alexander Scriabin, four of the mazurkas from the Opus 3 collection and the Opus 38 waltz, Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 44 polonaise in F-sharp minor, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 7 sonata in E-flat major.
This recital will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, at the new SFJAZZ Center (201 Franklin Street at the northwest corner of Fell Street). Tickets are free of charge to subscribers and donors. Any tickets that have not been claimed by March 28 will go on sale. Further information may be obtained from SFP at 415-392-2545.
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